Update from our Executive Director

This is a short story to help you understand the mission of Adventure Soccer in Swaziland.

We mobilized to a rural Swazi village to run a soccer camp outreach event to connect with local kids & youth. Our goal? To build relationships & trust in order to come alongside these kids that are oprhaned and living in their homesteads alone with siblings or neighbors. We connected well with these kids...and formed a team. We even gave them a coach! A promise was made to them. If they met to train during the week with their coach, we would bring them uniforms. The kids faithfully trained for months while we were away. They polished up soccer skills, learning to trust each other & work as a team. They also learned to implement many of the Biblical principles that the coach was teaching them on sportsmanship & being a "good neighbor." When we returned, a celebration broke out because the team finally had jerseys! They wore them with pride and could hardly wait for an opportunity to compete against another team. One day, our Adventure Soccer team modeled for this new team what it looked like to "give back" and "serve" in their community. We loaded up backpacks full of food supplies, soap, and jugs of water & set out on a hike...looking for homesteads with kids too afraid to come down to us for help. We found many homes to offer help to. At some homes we assisted by lending a hand in repairs, others we just visited & offered some supplies, and most we stopped to pray with people. The kids were beginning to understand that God could use them to make a difference in others lives. They just needed to be willing! Our Adventure Soccer team returned home only to find some pictures sent to us of a follow up mission the team had gone on. But this journey led them to a man who hadn't eaten in weeks. He was literally starving to death in his homestead...too weak to do anything. The photos included his mud hut and the many needs he had. Our new little team jumped into action serving this man. Some fixed his leaking roof, others mended his chicken coup fence, while even more washed up his dishes & filled his water jugs. A few cooked a meal for him while the coach removed the shirt off of his back and placed it on this man. God used these kids in a mighty way that day. It is because of your giving that this was set into motion. Please consider Adventure Soccer as you ponder your end of the year giving. We would be grateful for more opportunities like this!